OxyContin Making 'Smart Pill'

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Wednesday August 8 3:10 PM ET

OxyContin Making 'Smart Pill'

By CHRIS KAHN, Associated Press Writer

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) - The maker of OxyContin, a prescription

painkiller linked to a growing number of overdoses and

deaths, said Wednesday that it has come up with blueprints

for a ``smart pill'' that would be tougher to abuse.

The new painkiller, which has yet to be named and would not

be available for at least three years, would destroy its own

narcotic ingredients if crushed into a powder and snorted or

injected - the typical manner in which OxyContin currently

is abused.

``Addicts and abusers are going to find this very

undesirable,'' said Dr. J. Haddox, senior medical

director for Purdue Pharma LP of Stamford, Conn. ``Before

long they're going to say, 'Don't mess with that stuff;

that's no good.'''

Purdue spokesman Jim Heins said the drug could become an

alternative to their top-selling painkiller in areas like

rural Appalachia where prescription drug abuse is especially

high.

OxyContin is a slow-release narcotic painkiller that is

widely prescribed for victims of moderate to severe chronic

pain resulting from such problems as arthritis, back trouble

and cancer. One pill is designed to last 12 hours, but

abusers usually crush the medicine and then snort or inject

it, producing a quick, heroin-like high.

The drug has been blamed for contributing to more than 100

deaths nationwide. Purdue, which has become the target of at

least 13 OxyContin-related lawsuits in five states, says

those estimates are unreliable and that in the vast majority

of those cases, the victims were abusing other drugs at the

same time.

Like OxyContin, which was introduced in December 1995, the

new drug would be for victims of moderate to severe chronic

pain.

However, it would be embedded with microscopic ``beads'' of

naltrexone, a narcotic antagonist that counteracts the

medicine.

The beads would be coated with a chemical to keep them from

dissolving, so the pain medication will work just like

OxyContin if taken as directed.

But if the pill is crushed or chopped up, the coating on the

beads would break, releasing the naltrexone and canceling

the drug's effects, Haddox said.

Purdue is still conducting tests on the new drug, which

could be ready in three years. Officials have not decided

yet whether to make oxycodone the active ingredient, or to

include a different narcotic altogether, like morphine.

If the Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites)

approves the drug, it would be one of only a few

abuse-resistant drugs on the market. The first smart pill, a

painkiller called Talwin NX, uses an antagonist called

naloxone to achieve similar effects.

S. Weiner, executive director of the American

Academy of Pain Management in Sonora, Calif., applauded the

new formula.

``Hopefully, this will assuage law enforcement that ...

painkillers can be safe,'' Weiner said.

Purdue has been criticized for not reformulating OxyContin

to be like Talwin. Company officials decided against doing

so, Haddox said, because they were concerned that naloxone

might create a ``ceiling'' effect in OxyContin. Such a drug

would not increase in potency past a certain point, even if

a patient takes higher and higher doses.

``We think this is a much more elegant solution to the

problem,'' Haddox said.

Purdue officials said the timing of the patent has nothing

to do with lawsuits from people claiming they're addicted to

OxyContin and others who want to hold the company

responsible for illicit abuse of the drug.

This week, Purdue said it expects an international patent

application will be published on their ``sequestered

naltrexone'' technology, an initial step that expedites the

formula protection process in some countries. Heins said the

company also will seek individual patents in the United

States, Japan, Europe and other major markets.

-

On the Net:

http://www.pharma.com

http://www.aapainmanage.org

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Cool idea, a!

[ ] OxyContin Making 'Smart Pill'

> Wednesday August 8 3:10 PM ET

> OxyContin Making 'Smart Pill'

> By CHRIS KAHN, Associated Press Writer

>

> ROANOKE, Va. (AP) - The maker of OxyContin, a prescription

> painkiller linked to a growing number of overdoses and

> deaths, said Wednesday that it has come up with blueprints

> for a ``smart pill'' that would be tougher to abuse.